Read Online Referendum by Campbell Hart - Free Book Online

heard the words but she still couldn’t believe she’d been caught. I’m no criminal. I’m just trying to feed my family. Why don’t the bastards just let me go? There were two cops with an arm each, one on either side, they were taking her to the patrol car; people in the crowd moved aside and watched, wondering what this well turned out woman could have done to get herself arrested. Two teenagers sniggered. They said something but Lorna couldn’t hear. All her attention was focused on the yellow and blue check on the side of the patrol car. This is really happening. She pulled back and tried to run but the grip of her escorts tightened. Finally, head bowed, she was ushered into the back seat. Her skirt rode up the back as she slid onto the seat; the coldness of the black leather on her bare legs was an unwelcome reminder that her time in the summer sun was over. As the car sped off she listened as the radio crackled with instructions. The Commonwealth Games juggernaut pushed on. She knew that no-one would care what happened to her; no-one apart from Leona.
     
    That night Leona returned to an empty home. Her mum had told her to go out for the day to visit friends, to try and scrounge something to eat. But it was seven o’clock now and there was no sign of life. Leona hadn’t really been in the mood to talk. She still hadn’t really thought about what had happened to her dad, she needed to be strong for her mum who’d taken the news really badly. But she’d also said things would be fine, so where is she? Leona saw a small letter had been delivered. It sat upended behind the door; must have been brushed aside when she came back. It was official, from Police Scotland and addressed to her.
    Sliding her finger across the seal the envelope ripped in her haste to see what was inside. The note said she was to contact the Police station at Baird Street immediately. Something had happened to her mother and she needed to get in touch. She couldn’t stay by herself.
    Leona didn’t know what to do and a sharp tension gripped her stomach. Terrified, she suddenly felt as if she was being watched. Her mum had gone into town to ‘get some money’ but she’d said if she wasn’t back she should go to her aunt’s house in Paisley. Something’s happened, but what?
    Sitting in the hall on the third stair up, Leona crumpled the note into a ball and wondered who’d be safest to phone. No-one. She felt her only option was to run.
     
    ***
     
    When the door clinked shut and the lock turned the reality of the situation started to hit home for Lorna. The cell at Baird Street Police Station was small; around eight feet long and six wide. There was a basic toilet at the far end beside a raised ledge with a rubber mattress, but no sheets. Lorna sat down; there was nothing else to do. On the wall was a poster which said:
     
    Carrying a knife?
    Get used to
    4 years
    behind bars.
     
    There was a picture of a man with his head in his hands in a cell. Under the glare of the bright light Lorna started to sob; this wasn’t how her life was supposed to pan out. She’d had a good job, a great family, and because of a bad run she’d been reduced to this. The last hour had passed in a blur. She’d been ushered into the station and into a room at the back of the complex. She sat while an officer took her hand and then dabbed her fingers in ink. After that she’d been told to open her mouth; a swab was roughly swiped on the inside of her cheek ‘that’s for the DNA database’. Then down, down into the darkness of the cells. Looking out of the slot in the door Lorna could see there was no way out. There was an empty cell across the corridor and to the right, bars blocked the way. She was a prisoner and she only had herself to blame.

16
     
     
    Junior Bikana had been running for around three hours. Part of Cameroon’s marathon team, he had been in training for the last four years and was celebrated as one of his country’s great hopes